Loving a Bad Boy (8 page)

“
Nice ass,” Julio said
rubbing the stubble on his chin as the door snapped closed. The
offer to assist had been a spur of the moment thing and he was glad
she hadn’t accepted, he had no time to play nice neighbor. His eyes
remained glued to the smooth movement of the woman’s hips as she
pulled the small cart loaded with grocery bags down the hall. Even
with all the stops, and pushy people, the elevator ride had been
over too quickly. He would have appreciated a little more time to
observe the stacked chocolate beauty.

Earlier, he had been
sitting in his car, talking on the phone, when she’d driven into
the garage, parked, and stepped out of her car. Once the headlights
were out, her white tee-shirt had stood out in the dark garage like
a beacon. For a moment, he froze as recollections from his dream
swarmed over him.
A woman with a
light
.

“
Bullshit.” He’d slammed
down those thoughts, refusing to go down that path.

Instead, he'd watched her bend over to place
her bags in the small cart, fully enjoying the sight of her
well-toned legs and round ass. While she locked her car, he had
exited his and moved swiftly toward the elevator. Deliberately,
he'd held the elevator open until he heard her footsteps, and then
had allowed the doors to close, wanting to hear her voice. He had
not been disappointed. The soft lilt in her voice made him think
she was from Jamaica or some other island.

Her face had been alight with pleasure when
she entered the elevator he had so gallantly held for her. Even,
white teeth, and natural full lips graced her smooth chocolate
pearl complexion as she offered her thanks. High cheekbones in a
round face with a straight nose that tilted up just a bit at the
tip. It pleased him that she wore no make-up; hers was a natural
beauty. The thick brownish-black ponytail made her neck look long.
Lighter brown tips brushed against the center of her back. He liked
the contrast and wondered if she were hairy in other places.

Her white tee-shirt failed to hide ample
breasts and small waist. The stretch shorts gave him a much better
view of her legs and sweet round ass. His cock hardened
uncomfortably, but he wouldn’t change his viewpoint for anything.
All in all, she had been an interesting distraction. He could have
done without all the other interruptions, especially the last woman
who propositioned him. Stubborn silence had been his only
response.

A long sigh slipped between his lips. He ran
a hand through his hair, not quite frustrated, but close. After
turning down women from families seeking to make familial
connections with his, a woman who knew nothing, or wanted nothing
from him was a breath of freshness.

Work had consumed his time. He had chased
phantom leads. Just when he thought he had pegged the problem, it
would either be explained away or dove-tailed into another
scenario.

Circles inside
circles
.

The problem was finding some type of
connection between the circles. The elevator stopped on his private
floor. After unlocking the door to his unit, he looked around and
wondered what Ms. Chocolate Pearl would think of his home. It had
been professionally decorated before his arrival. The walls were a
soothing cream. The furniture’s palette was brown, gold, and blue.
Overall, the effect pleased him, especially since the decorator had
been one of the top five in Florida.

Tex walked into the living area. “Hey.”

“
Hello, son.”

The last vestiges of the woman in the
elevator evaporated as Julio spun toward the husky voice of
Constance Cardenas-Black. Ribbons of joy enveloped him. Moving
quickly he picked up the woman who gave him birth and spun her
around. “When’d you get here?” he asked after kissing her cheek and
setting her down. His heart sped up in delight.

“
A few hours ago. I missed
you.” She patted his cheeks while giving him the once over. Since
she did this whenever they saw each other, he remained still until
she finished.

“
Yeah, right. You just
wanted to go shopping.” He ducked her swipe at him. “Pops with
you?” he asked of his stepfather, knowing he probably hadn’t made
the trip. His visits had become fewer and fewer since Julio started
working for the Cartel. The friction between Francisco and his
stepfather was palpable. To date he hadn’t been able to come up
with a viable solution, but he hoped one day they’d all be able to
sit and at least break bread together.

“
No, he’s in California,
consulting on something. And I can shop
and
see you.” She threaded her arm
in his and walked toward the sofa. Julio looked at the dining room
table which was loaded with the files he and Tex had been working
on.

The past two weeks had been a period of
adjustment for all of them. After shopping for a more appropriate
wardrobe, Tex had mellowed, and had proven to be indispensable in
helping him locate the problems in Roberto’s organization. They'd
spent hours reviewing personnel and accounting files. His cousin
had been correct; there was something off in the accounts and with
the deliveries.

“
Tex, you got those files
we talked about earlier?” he asked as he sat next to his
mom.

“
Yeah.”

“
Good, we’ll go over those
after dinner.” He turned to his mom. “You wanna get something to
eat?”

“
Roberto invited us to
dinner tomorrow night.”

“
I meant now.”

“
I know what you meant,
but I wanted to make sure you take me to Roberto’s tomorrow. I want
to meet his family. Strange, I’ve never met his
daughter.”

“
Carlos’ wife?”

“
Yes. I have heard great
things about her from Francisco and Roberto. I don’t like Maderas
or his jackass son. But I heard she was strong and overcame some
tough things when she was younger.”

Julio smiled. His mom always cheered for the
underdog. Maria had a champion. “I’ll try to accompany you. Depends
on how the day falls.”

She nodded with a smile. “I know.”

“
But I’m hungry now,” he
said inhaling some tantalizing aromas lingering in the
air.

Tex laughed. “Miguel brought some chicken
and rice from some restaurant, it’s in the oven.”

Julio stood. “Mom?”

She waved him away. “I already ate, go get
you a plate.”

The moment Julio walked into the large
kitchen, he smelled the grilled chicken. His stomach rumbled,
reminding him he had not eaten since this morning, and even then it
had been just a bowl of some fiber cereal Tex had bought. He
grabbed a plate and piled on the chicken, rice, and fried
plantains. After popping a plantain in his mouth, he opened the
refrigerator and pulled out a can of sweet tea. Plate and can in
hands, he returned to the dining room and sat down.

“
How long you gonna be
here?” he asked his mom.

“
I’m leaving after dinner
tomorrow night. Francisco asked me to host some party he’s throwing
in New York.”

The fork in Julio’s hand froze just before
it reached his mouth. “But he sent you here first?”

Next to his six foot, two inch frame she
seemed tiny, but when she looked at him, he saw flashes of her
towering strength.

Her mouth closed in a snap as her fingertip
tapped his chest. “He did not send me. I had planned to surprise
you Monday so that we could…could have a memorial together.”

Julio’s brow drew together. “Memorial?” He
had no idea what she was talking about.

She exhaled as her eyes watered. “Daddy. He
died twenty years ago this past Monday.”

Julio stared at her unsure what to say.
Francisco often told stories of Benito Cardenas’ exploits making
sure Julio knew more about his deceased grandfather than he wanted
to know. But he failed to mention anything about this. This was
new. He glanced up as Tex left the room.

“
I’m sorry.” That sounded
so lame, but he didn’t know what else to say in the face of her
pain.

She waved him off and then patted his knee,
something she used to do when he was a small boy. “It’s okay.” She
paused for a moment, her hand brushed against his face before
resting on his cheek. “You look like him.”

Julio had heard a variation of that comment
the bulk of his adult life so he nodded instead of speaking.

“
Seriously, not just
physically. You act like him too, probably gives Francisco
goose-bumps sometimes.” She laughed.

The idea that he made the older man nervous
was ridiculous, still the visual was funny. He chuckled. “So what
you’re saying is the former leader of the Cartel was this tall,
skinny dude with a strange sense of humor?” He slid a glance in her
direction relieved to see the fire leap to her eyes. Anything was
better than the earlier pain he’d witnessed.

He winced when she pinched his shoulder.
“Ow.”

“
You’re not skinny and you
know it. You have a great sense of humor, everybody says so. You’re
a little distant to people you don’t know, but once you feel
comfortable around someone you relax and have fun.” She paused and
swallowed hard. “Your father was like that.”

Julio’s heart skipped a beat. She never
talked about his biological father or her birth mother. He wasn’t
sure how he felt being compared to a man who died before he was
born. “Yeah?”

“
Yeah,” she whispered. “He
had a dry sense of humor, although he had to like you to even talk
around you.”

Since she was sharing, he took her hands in
his, surprised they were trembling and rubbed them gently. “Tell me
about him.”

A hissing sound escaped from her lips as her
eyes closed. “I was young. He was much older but I thought he was
so handsome.” A small smile tugged the corners of her lips.

“
Yeah? Like me?” He
teased, glad her trembling had ceased.

She opened her eyes and winked at him. “No,
you’re much better looking since you favor my family.”

“
Got it.” He smiled and
squeezed her hand.

“
He was Roberto’s friend
from school. Not involved in the business, so you can imagine
daddy’s response when he found out I was pregnant.”

“
Whoa, you skipped a whole
bunch of stuff. I knew you and Roberto was close but how’d his
school friend get close to you?” From the little he knew of his
grandfather, he kept a tight rein on things.

“
Yeah, ever since
mama…well since she’d been…” she swallowed hard, her eyes filled as
she looked away.

His chest tightened at her obvious
discomfort, but he pressed forward. “You never told me about my
grandma. It’s time, right?”

She nodded. “It’s one of the reasons I kept
you away from all this. I should say one of the reasons daddy
permitted it. No one ever really leaves the Cartel alive, you know
that.” Her eyes locked with his.

He nodded. “Yeah that’s pretty clear.”

“
Mama was a distant
relative to the Delgado family.” She waved her hand, pulling it
from his. “There aren’t any more of them that I know of, but they
were crazy, loco people. To hear daddy tell it they never paid her
any attention until she hooked up with him. He was next in line for
Cartel leadership and her people wanted to make sure he knew the
Delgado name.” She snorted. “Daddy said they started making
demands, asking for money, contacts, all sorts of things. Mama
didn’t know half of those clowns who thought they were important
because she was living with daddy. Then she got
pregnant.”

She paused and closed her eyes again.
“Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if she hadn’t had a
miscarriage and lost that baby.”

“
Huh?” Stunned, he stared
at his mother.
Miscarriage
? What the hell
happened?

“
Daddy said she was
devastated when she lost their son. It was nobody’s fault,
according to the doctor it just happened.”

“
That’s possible, right?”
He didn’t want to believe that someone messed over a relative of
his, even if she was long gone.

She nodded. “According to daddy they were in
bed together when she started bleeding. After that daddy claimed
she changed. Stopped going out with him, became more reserved.”

Not knowing what to say, he squeezed her
hand.

“
Anyway, he finally
convinced her to marry him when she was pregnant with me the
following year. She was determined that nothing would happen to me.
Daddy said she was super careful, wouldn’t let him touch her.” His
mom’s smirk offered a clue how her dad felt about that.

Curious, he nodded hoping she would continue
the story.

“
After I was born, mama
didn’t want her family coming around and asked daddy to keep them
from us.”

“
Us? You and
her?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Daddy had taken over the
Cartel by then and he refused to give them anything else. So they
started asking mama for money and favors. That pissed daddy off so
he took out two of mama’s cousins, said they were being
disrespectful.”

“
I see that.” He knew he
would’ve done the same thing.

She chuckled as she leaned back in the chair
and crossed her arms. “Yeah, I told you the two of you were
alike.”

“
Yeah, you did.” He leaned
back in the chair next to her and took her hand. For a moment they
sat in silence.

“
They killed her.” The
soft spoken words were amplified by the quiet of the room. Although
he had suspected that’s what happened he had hoped he was
wrong.